


my problem now

by buddhaghost



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Injury, Crack Treated Seriously, First Meetings, Gen, Loosely follows a plot, M/M, Sakura did not sign up for this, Secret Identity, Whump, vigilante shenanigans not always specified, vigilantes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-21 22:28:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30028821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buddhaghost/pseuds/buddhaghost
Summary: It’s not that Sakura intended to live in the city with the highest level of vigilantly activity on the east coast, it just happened that way. Of all the schools she’d applied to, Kohona University offered her the most money, and, hell, Sakura’s not one to pass that opportunity up.And at first, save for the occasional city-wide lockdown as that week’s baddie threatened to blow something up, or the shelter-in-place drills that she had to participate in during the first week of class, it didn’t have any major impact on her life.That is, until vigilantes started showing up at her apartment out of the blue.---or; tired med student Sakura has the unfortunate habit of running into vigilantes, who, for some reason, don't seem to want to leave her alone
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura & Sai, Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	my problem now

**Author's Note:**

> hello ! niche story time
> 
> sorry in advance if this feels rushed or confusing. i've written like 4 different versions of this story and have cut and copied and pasted throughout numerous word documents in order to get what i wanted
> 
> also please let me know if there are any glaring errors

Sakura is three cups of coffee deep when _finish what you can and get to bed_ is starting to sound a lot like _let’s just make this an all-nighter_. Yes, this will make it her third in a week, but she just has to get through tomorrow and then she can sleep all weekend.

“You deserve this,” she mutters to herself, taking another sip of the bitter instant coffee that she gets from the 7-11 just down the street, because apparently, she a glutton for punishment. She’s hunched over her laptop, blinking wearily at her screen, which is already set to the lowest setting but still somehow feels too bright. “You deserve this shitty cup of coffee. Self-care, anybody?”

Sakura knows, intuitively, that talking to oneself about self-care when she is, in fact, actively participating in her own self-sabotage, is probably a red flag that she needs sustenance, sleep, and maybe a therapist. But the wonderful, truly beautiful fact of the matter is this: she’s alone in her one-bedroom studio apartment, and there’s nobody to judge her.

Sakura rather likes this aspect of her new life in Kohona. Her apartment – which is just her bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen living space, all which are tiny but functional – is all _hers_ , rather than having to share like she did in her undergrad, and it’s _amazing_. She’s finally studying what she _wants_ , and she can do it all on her schedule.

But the other thing about living in Kohona, she things darkly to herself as the power goes out with a sudden, eerie click, are the vigilantes.

It’s not that Sakura _intended_ to live in the city with the highest level of vigilantly activity on the east coast, it just happened that way. And, quite honestly, it hasn’t had any real major impact on her life so far; just a few more rabid tabloids, and fan-pages, and themed restaurants, and shelter-in-place drills, and the occasional city-wide lockdown, than she was used to back home.

But that’s just life in the city, Sakura thinks to herself as she swings her legs over the edge of the bed, moving by the muted light coming in from her window. If the power to her apartment building is a collateral in some super fight, so be it.

She has a few candles, because this is not the first time her power’s gone out – when she first moved in, her neighbor had come over and handed her a box of them. _You’re going to need these,_ he’d told her. _I don’t know what they told you, but this neighborhood typically sees a lot of action_. Which, now that Sakura thinks about it, could explain why the rent is so cheap.

So, yes, there’s been some instances where she couldn’t leave her apartment for three days because of multiple bomb threats, and there’s been some instances where she’s been forced to leave her apartment because of bomb threats, but she’s never actually had any _real_ trouble.

“Or maybe your standards have just dropped that low,” Sakura mutters, scrounging through her desk for a lighter, because talking out loud is a thing and it’s happening, and she can’t stop it.

She finds it, and after a few attempts the thing splutters to life, giving Sakura enough time to light a few candles and spread them out on her desk. It looks kind of… elegant. “Spa night, anyone?” she says, as if she chose to have to light these candles, rather than being forced to by lack of electricity. She’s just thankful that her laptop is fully charged.

Sakura straightens, turning back to her bed, when there’s a muted thud, just outside her window. She jumps, then goes absolutely still, straining her ears for anything else.

It’s raining, has been for the past two days, and with the rain comes wind, and with wind comes things going bump in the night. So she forces herself to relax, let out a long breath. Because she _could’ve_ just imagined it.

But she also might not have. Which would mean that there’s _someone on her fire escape_.

She waits, every muscle still tensed and breathe coming light and shallow. The silence, broken only by the sound of rain, feels oppressive, but after a long moment, she gradually starts to relax.

And then there’s another hollow thump, followed by a low groan, and adrenaline shoots down Sakura’s spine.

Slowly, she bends down and wraps her fingers around the handle of the baseball bat, which she owns for the very reason that she is a woman living alone in a neighborhood with high vigilante activity. It’s heavy and solid and she straightens again, adjusting her grip. Twelve years of baseball – because her hometown was so small that they didn’t have a softball league – means that Sakura’s _pretty fucking comfortable_ with swinging this thing, and, steeling herself, she takes a step towards the window.

She makes sure to tread lightly, as if she’s the one trespassing, not whoever happens to be making use of her fire escape. The shades are drawn, and the window is latched, which means Sakura will have to be quick about this if she wants to get the upper hand.

The moonlight casts her shadow long behind her as she approaches the window. From this angle she can’t see anything, but she can hear the person clearer now; their sharp, uneven breathing, accompanied by a slight dragging sound. She’ll admit, whoever it is doesn’t exactly sound like they’re planning a sneak attack, but Sakura’s not here to make assumptions and die because of her own stupidity.

She takes a breath, closing her eyes and praying that this isn’t about to be the dumbest mistake of her life, before whipping the sash up and throwing the window open, leaping through in a move that she honestly thinks deserves to be in a movie.

The rain hits her immediately, and she barely has time to process anything other than _there’s a man on my fire escape_ before she’s swinging the bat with brutal force, probably screaming a bit but hey that’s life.

Her bat doesn’t make contact, though. Sakura stares with wide eyes at the hand that’s shot out to catch it like it was _nothing_ , fingers clawed around it with such force that it snaps like a match, and Sakura barely has time to think _oh, fuck_ before she’s staring into the blazing red eyes of who she now recognizes is _fucking Nine Tails_.

Sakura’s fingers go slack on the bat and ice runs through her veins as she stands, frozen, because she’s just attacked one of Kohona’s most infamous vigilantes, she’s pretty sure she’s going to die.

“Oh, god,” Sakura breathes. Nine Tails’ head is tilted down, staring at the bat now in his hands, and Sakura takes note of how his fingers have gouged claw-like marks into it where he’d grabbed it. “Um. Sorry.”

Nine Tails’ head snaps up, and Sakura startles, stumbling back a step. Except she’s forgotten the fact that they’re _on a fire escape_ and it’s slippery because it’s been raining for the past two days and as her feet go out from under her, she realizes with sudden clarity that it won’t be Nine Tails who kills her tonight, it’ll be her own goddam stupidity.

But before she can hit the railing and go tumbling to certain death, Nine Tails lunges forwards, wrapping a hand around her upper arm and pulling her back to her feet. His touch is hot, almost burningly so, and Sakura is acutely aware of the fact that he’d just gouged through a wooden bat with his bare hands like it was butter. Her arm would be nothing to destroy in comparison.

Her heart is in her throat as she tears her gaze from her arm to Nine Tails’ face. She knows him, his costume, from the news and blogs; knows his penchant for obnoxious orange, his tanned skin and golden hair. But now that she’s up close, literally breathing the same air, she sees more. The little whisker marks adorning both his cheeks. The peak of elongated canines through is gritted teeth. She’s also heard about his red eyes, but right now, from what she can see through the domino he’s got on, they’re blue, almost electrifyingly so. And his skin is looking a little pallid. And his hair is plastered to his head, dark with rain. And his orange outfit –

“You’re hurt,” she says bluntly, looking down to where his jacket has fallen open, revealing dark blood beneath.

Nine Tails blinks, as if seeing Sakura for the first time. His eyes fall on where he’s still gripping her arm, and he releases her quickly, as if burned. He staggers backwards, swaying for a moment before dropping to his knees, curling in slightly.

His hand comes up to press against his stomach, and Sakura can see the blood mixing with rain, running through his fingers.

“You need help,” Sakura insists, and, because she’s always ignored her self-preservation instincts, she takes a step forwards, approaching the fallen vigilante with slow, careful steps, before slowly lowering to crouch beside him.

Nine Tails ignores, his breath coming out in harsh pants as he looks around wildly. Sakura presses her lips together, ignoring the way that her t-shirt is sodden, clinging to her uncomfortably, how her hair is plastered to the back of her neck. It’s a cold, driving rain, and she really just wants to go inside and take a hot shower and dive under the covers but she _can’t_ , because there’s a bleeding vigilante on her fire escape and it’s her problem now.

Also, okay, maybe she’s a little star-struck, because _holy shit_ this is Nine Tails. He’s, like, Kohona’s favorite, in the sense that they love to hate him and hate to love him. Sakura’s honestly not really sure what he does, but he’s always in the news for one thing or another. She’s only seen what he can do through glimpses of fights caught on camera. Sometimes, he’s grinning, eyes wild and hands full of blue energy. And sometimes, he’s something else altogether.

A demon, the press says. But right now, she’s kneeling over him, and _demon_ isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind. His skin is golden and his cheeks are marked by long, whisker-like slashes and even though his identity is hidden by the domino that he wears, she feels like she _knows_ him.

But that’s ridiculous. Probably some weird, innate sense of possession Sakura feels because he defends her city. Kind of like the way people get really passionate about sports teams.

The cold of the fire escape is really starting to seep through her thin sweats when Nine Tails finally looks back up at her, something like confusion twisting his features. “Sakura…?” He finally says, voice slurred.

What.

“Um, how do you know my name?” Sakura asks, because why does Nine Tails know her name.

The boy blinks again, clarity rushing in and his eyes go wide. “I – what? Did I say that? Haha, nope, you must’ve imagined it –”

Sakura finds herself without a response, gaping at the vigilante, who seems incapable of reading the room as he keeps talking. “Actually, well, _of course_ I know your name, you’re a citizen of Kohona, would you believe me if I said I learn every citizens’ name? Part of the life of a vigilante, yep, that’s right.”

“Nope,” Sakura says, because there’s no way in hell she believes that.

“Well…” Nine Tails says, clearly searching for something to say. “Why are you on the fire escape? It’s raining, you know.”

Sakura blinks at him. Of all the things to say, _that’s_ what comes out of his mouth? She supposes Nine Tails isn’t exactly known for his superior genius knowledge – he’s loud and obnoxious and throws taunts around like they’re candy (and _no_ she has not watched a YouTube compilation of ‘Nine Tails best hits’, there’s _no way_ you’d find it in her browser history so don’t even bother looking) and he is also terrifyingly powerful. But now she’s worried he must’ve suffered some sort of blow to the head.

“This is my apartment,” she says, kind of lamely. “ _You’re_ on _my_ fire escape. I thought I was being attacked! Why are _you_ here?”

Nine Tails shakes his head. “Wrong one…” he mumbles, and then, for reasons Sakura cannot fathom, he starts laughing.

“Did you hit your head?” She demands, now genuinely concerned, and Nine Tails just chuckles again before cutting himself off with a groan, curling in on himself, and Sakura is suddenly reminded of the pressing issue at hand. “Let me see it.”

Nine Tails laughs again, but it’s unsteady, more like a huff of air than anything, and Sakura zeros in on how his arms curl protectively around his middle. “Why? What are you going to do?”

Sakura hits the boy with a deadpan look. Being this close to Nine Tails makes her realize he’s definitely not any older than she is, and the thought of that kind of terrifies her and makes her mad, because if he’s out pulling his own all-nighters, running rampant around Kohona and getting hurt in an effort to keep it safe, then it’s only fair that help in the only way she knows how.

“I’m going to spit on it. What do you think, dumbass?” She snarls, and wow, the crippling insomnia and complete lack of social interaction outside of classes must be getting to her if this is how she reacts to one of the most powerful vigilantes ending up bleeding on her fire escape.

Nine Tails waves his hand in dismissal. “I’m _fine_ ,” he says, drawing out the word. “I’ve somewhere else to go, don’t mean to intrude –” he twists, looking like he’s going to try to get up, but Sakura can see the way his limbs are shaking from the strain, the way his teeth are gritted against the pain.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sakura says. “You’re hurt.”

Nine Tails grins at her, like she’s said something funny, but it’s more a baring of teeth than anything, and Sakura’s eyes catch on his elongated canines, the blood lining his gums. “I’m _fine_ ,” he repeats. “Trust me, I’ve had worse.”

Sakura stares at him, at this boy who has water and blood running down his face, who is holding on to his middle like he’s trying to keep his insides where they’re supposed to be, who is telling her that he’s had worse, all with a grin on his face. And Sakura knows she has to do something, because if she lets him go and then wakes up the next morning to the news that Nine Tails was found dead in an alley somewhere, well, she’ll never get over it.

“No,” she says, and hopes she’s not making a decision she’ll regret for the rest of her life. “You can’t go anywhere like this. Let me at least look at it.”

Nine Tails doesn’t even get the chance to argue, because Sakura bends down and grasps his arm, wrapping it over her shoulders and hauling him to his feet. He hisses in pain but doesn’t say anything more as she awkwardly maneuvers them back through her window.

A few minutes later, she’s successfully wrangled herself and Nine Tails into the apartment. They’re both soaking wet, so she’d ushered him into the bathroom so he could drip there without staining her floors with water or blood. It’s cramped, and she can feel his eyes following her as she scrounges through her cabinets for towels.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He eventually says, breaking the silence. “Showing me where you live, I mean. Like, how do you know I won’t break in and steal your shit, or kill you or something?”

Sakura stills from where she’s elbows-deep in the closet, turning back to stare at Nine Tails. “Dude, why would you even say that? Are you planning to break in and steal my shit, or kill me, _or something_?”

Nine Tails shakes his head.

“Great!” Sakura says with a forced smile, grabbing the towels she finally managed to locate and turning back to face him fully. “Now let me see that wound you’ve been hiding.”

It’s bad.

“It’s worse than it looks,” Nine Tails tries to argue as Sakura more or less manhandles him to her kitchen table, forcing him to sit. At least he has the sense to look slightly chagrined when Sakura levels him with the flattest glare she can possibly muster, because he’s been walking around with _multiple stab wounds_ in his gut.

“You didn’t think this was worth mentioning?” She exclaims, jabbing a hand towards his midsection.

“I heal quickly!” He responds, matching her volume and Sakura has to take a moment to remember that she has _neighbors,_ goddammit, and the last thing she needs is someone next door sticking their nose in here and seeing _Nine Tails_ of all people bleeding out on her kitchen table.

Sakura takes a steadying breath, running her hands through her hair as she exhales slowly. “Okay, here’s what I’m going to do,” she says in a much more reasonable voice. “I’m going to take a look at that, because even though you might have… accelerated healing… you’ve still lost a lot of blood and that kind of stresses me out.”

“Aw, you care about me?” Nine Tails says, batting his eyes, and Sakura just growls and puts her hands on both his shoulders, pushing him down so he’s lying flat on the table.

He’s hot to the touch, and Sakura can _feel_ his iron-like muscles. She quickly removes her hands before he can accuse her of caressing him. “Be right back,” she says. “ _Do. Not. Move_.”

“Roger, roger,” he says to her retreating back.

Sakura hustles back to her bathroom, ripping open the cabinet and cursing herself for not having more supplies.

“Why, it’s not like you were expecting to have to stitch up one of Kohona’s most infamous vigilantes,” she mutters to herself, grabbing rubbing alcohol, copious amounts of gauze, some medical tape, and a thread and needle that she honestly didn’t even know she had. “Just your average night, I suppose.”

“Are you talking to me?” Nine Tails calls from the other room while Sakura is rummaging around in the cabinet below her sink, startling Sakura so badly that she almost smacks her head as she jumps.

“No!” She hisses, gathering her items and returning to the kitchen.

“You sure about that?” Nine Tails asks. He’s taken off his jacket fully, and Sakura lets herself admire his rather impressive muscle definition before focusing on the stab wounds. “I have pretty good hearing.”

Of course. Sakura kind of wishes she had a better idea of what Nine Tails is capable of.

“It’s probably the blood loss getting to your head,” she grumbles, starting to clear away the blood in order to get a better view of the wounds. “Making you imagine things.”

“You’re the smart one here,” he says. “I’ll defer to you. But this really isn’t necessary, you know,” he adds conversationally. “I heal from shit like this all the time, stitches don’t really _do_ anything for me in the long run –” he cuts off with a hiss as Sakura prods at one of the cuts. They’re deep, worryingly so, but they’re pretty clean, like the blade had been pulled straight out, not twisting or dragging inside him.

There’s something else, slowly being revealed as Sakura clears away the blood. It looks like a tattoo, intricate and black and not in a shape that Sakura recognizes, but if she had to describe it, she’d say it looks a little bit like a sun. And the weirdest part is that it seems to be _moving_ , almost imperceptibly, as she watches.

“That’s stupid,” she deadpans, tearing her gaze away from the strange tattoo. “Just because you _can_ heal from this without any treatment doesn’t mean you _should_.”

Nine Tails mutters something that sounds like _agree to disagree._ Sakura scowls, before returning her attention back to the multiple stab wounds. “What happened?” She asks, getting out the thread and needle, thankful for her naturally steady hands as she prepares it.

Nine Tails hums, bringing his arms up to rest beneath his head, like he’s lounging on a beach instead of a bumpy kitchen table. “Eh, a minor disagreement between old friends,” he says, offhand.

Sakura pauses, looking again at his face. It’s like a shadow’s fallen over him, and she picks up on the souring mood.

He doesn’t elaborate, so Sakura doesn’t push. “Um, do you want some Advil? Or… I don’t know, vodka?” She asks, realizing she has considered any sort of pain killers and really was just about to stitch this boy up. Super healing or not, it’s probably going to hurt.

“Nah,” Nine Tails says. “Just do it. This is all irrelevant, anyways. It’ll be healed by morning.”

“I’ll just close them up,” Sakura suggests. “Stop you from losing any more blood.”

Nine Tails hums, falling silent for a moment as Sakura leans closer, lost in focus. She’s halfway through when he speaks up again. “You’re pretty good at this.”

“Well, I worked at an emergency walk-in clinic during my undergrad,” she explains mindlessly as she adds another stitch. “Learned most of the basics there.”

“And now you’re studying to be a doctor?” Nine Tails prods, voice innocent, but Sakura still glances up at him, brow raised.

She hasn’t forgotten how he knew her name, either.

“Are you sure you’re not stalking me?” She asks.

“It’s a logical conclusion!” Nine Tails squawks. Sakura just hums, trying one last know before snipping the thread and straightening up.

“All set,” she says, stuffing all the soiled gauze, needle and thread into a plastic bag before tying it off and shoving it into her trash can.

Nine Tails sits up slowly, examining her handiwork. Sakura takes this time to stare once again at his bare chest. There’s not a single scar on him. She wonders if an accelerated healing factor has anything to do with that, and then starts to think of how incredible it would be to study that trait, see if it could be adapted to normal people, and—nope. She’s not going to go there. Not going to start thinking about the Nine Tails as a glorified science experiment.

But then her eyes catch once again on the tattoo, and she thinks of the rumors of _demon_ following Nine Tails wherever he goes.

“Not bad,” he comments, looking up. Sakura tears her eyes away, but she’s not quick enough.

“Ah,” Nine Tails says mildly, pulling his shirt back on, and Sakura’s cheeks burn because she knows that he knows what she was thinking.

“That’s a nice tattoo,” Sakura says before she can stop herself. “I’ve thought of getting one myself, but my mom always told me it needs to have meaning and I’ve never really known what would be meaningful enough to put on my body long-term just yet, you know? Maybe in a few years I’ll figure it out, because I don’t want to end up with something that’ll embarrass me down the road, you know?”

Nine Tails is staring at her as he gets to his feet. Sakura knows she’s rambling and forces herself to shut her mouth, turning instead to wipe down the table. The air is tense and Sakura doesn’t know what to do, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that this vigilante knows who she is and where she lives and she just commented on what is probably some sort of demon tattoo like it was a choice he made to get it.

“Right…” he says, glancing at the clock. Sakura follows his gaze – it’s now just past four in the morning. “Well, thank you, I guess. Even though I would’ve been fine, I suppose this was helpful.”

Sakura straightens. “You’re welcome, _I guess_. How did you end up on my fire escape, anyways?”

Nine Tails just smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah… sorry about that.” Then he glances towards the window. “I guess I should be going now.”

“Wait,” Sakura says, following Nine Tails as he heads towards the window, “You’re not going back out there, are you? You need at least a day’s rest, some recovery time –“

He flaps a hand at her, swinging the window open and jumping back out onto the fire escape. The rain is still coming down, and Sakura squints against it as she follows him. “ _What are you doing_ , we’re four stories high, are you mad? Just take the fucking stairs!”

Nine Tails turns, halfway out the window, and smiles, his grin positively _blinding_. “You’re so sweet, Sakura! I never would’ve thought you cared this much.” And then, just like that, he’s gone.

Sakura sticks her head out the window, watching his retreating back as he leaps rooftop to rooftop. “ _How do you know my name?!”_ She screams at him.

No one answers her except for the sounds of the rain hitting the fire escape.

**Author's Note:**

> howdyyyy thank you for reading!! feel free to let me know your thoughts. just for reference this story will kind of follow a 4 + 1 times type of format


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